Vegan jerky! Cashew cheese! Plant-based foods are big at...

1of5Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, vegan jerky, alternative sweeteners and turmeric-rich products were showcased at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show, which was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center this week.Photo: Sarah Fritsche

2of5Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, vegan jerky, alternative sweeteners and turmeric-rich products were showcased at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show, which was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center this week.Photo: Sarah Fritsche

3of5Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, vegan jerky, alternative sweeteners and turmeric-rich products were showcased at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show, which was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center this week.Photo: Sarah Fritsche

4of5Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, vegan jerky, alternative sweeteners and turmeric-rich products were showcased at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show, which was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center this week.Photo: Sarah Fritsche

5of5The 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show was held at Moscone Center in San Francisco January 21-23.Photo: Sarah Fritsche

Held each January at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, the three-day annual food industry convention, which ends Tuesday, serves as the largest marketplace devoted exclusively to specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast.

This year 1,400 companies from across the globe, ranging from small craft food makers to industry giants, were on-hand to display their wares to the more than 25,000 people expected to attend.

In addition to serving as a chance for producers and potential distributors to connect, the food show also serves as a chance to spy emerging trends within the industry.

If the large number of stalls boasting flavored teas, snacks and spice blends is any indication, previous years’ trends like coconut, matcha and turmeric are still going strong. These existing trends, according to SFA predictions, will joined by a whole new batch for 2018, including Filipino cuisine and activated charcoal-based foods (a.k.a. “goth food”).

While I didn’t spy anything goth, there was one predicted trend that dominated the show: plant-based foods.

Like most of the touted 2018 trends, plant-based foods aren’t a new concept here in the Bay Area, but they certainly seem to have now caught on with mainstream America.

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A look at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show, which was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center January 21-23.

Video: Urmila Ramakrishnan

There were plant-based butters, including one made with aquafaba from Brooklyn-based and Kickstarter-backed startup food company Fora Foods. Miyoko’s Kitchen also offered samples of their cashew-based smoked mozzarella, spreads and European-style cultured vegan butter.

Demand is high, according to Miyoko’s marketing director Cathleen Mandigo. The Petaluma-based company has ramped up production, and recently moved from their 5,000-square-foot facility to a 30,000-square-foot one. Yet they are still barely able to keep up with demand, says Mandigo.

If there was one plant-based trend that seemed to be on fire at the show, it was vegan jerky. Los Angeles-based Unisoy featured its line of vegan jerkies made with textured vegetable protein (TVP) in flavors like teriyaki, pepper and spicy. Berkeley’s Tofuyu debuted their beef-flavored soy jerky, and Little Red Dot Kitchen, which specializes in bak kwa (Southeast Asian meat jerkies) showcased their new vegan Singapore-style eggplant bacon.

Alternative sweeteners such as monk fruit extract are also growing in popularity. The most interesting item in this category was Just Date Syrup, made with organic California medjool dates. San Francisco physician-turned food maker Sylvie Charles created the syrup, which is low on the glycemic index and has a deep molasses-like flavor, as a sugar alternative for diabetic patients.

Another trend predicted to increase according to the SFA: Cannabis-cuisine, which is expected to continue to find its way into snacks, treats and beverages as more states legalize marijuana. Though there were no cannabis edibles on the trade show floor, I did sample a vitamin water from San Leandro-based Hemp20, which while made with hemp seed oil doesn’t contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) or CBD (cannabidiol).

The hot sauce trend is so 5 years ago, but hands down the best thing I tasted at the food show this year was a pleasantly peppery and spicy condiment from Hector Saldivar.

Saldivar has lived in the Bay Area for over a decade, but whenever he would go home to visit his mother in his hometown of Monterey, Mexico, his friends and colleagues would ask him to bring back bottles of her homemade hot sauce. Made with just red jalapenos, vinegar, cumin, garlic, oregano, black pepper and salt, it’s a flavorful sauce with just the right amount of heat to not detract from the food you use it on. With his mother’s blessing, Saldivar launched Tia Lupita Hot Sauce and has spent the past ten months finding distributors and working, in his words, to “make hot sauce great again.”

The Winter Fancy Food Show is open to industry professionals Tuesday, January 23 until 4 p.m.

Sarah Fritsche first came to The San Francisco Chronicle as a culinary student in 2006. Upon completing her externship, she spent several years working back-of-house gigs in San Francisco’s restaurant and catering industries, as well as serving as the executive assistant for a wine and spirits start-up. In 2010, she returned to The Chronicle, and has since covered everything from breaking restaurant news to what produce is in season at Bay Area farmers’ markets. Her favorite beat, however, is cooking, testing and developing recipes in The Chronicle’s Test Kitchen. She is a member of the Association of Food Journalists.